Avengers: Endgame leapfrogs Avatar to reclaim its all-time box office crown

Of course, the always competitive Cameron could demand an asterisk, since the latest MCU rerelease (titled Avengers Endgame: Encore, complete with leapfrogging colon) had to throw in either two or six minutes of new, Avengers: Doomsday-hyping footage to gain the advantage, depending on where you saw it. (Regular theatergoers got the short end, while IMAX and Infinity Vision big spenders got an extra scene.) But then again, Cameron’s own GCI-heavy 2009 tale of sci-fi action-adventure only got to where it is through a whopping five theatrical rereleases over the years, so perhaps everyone can put down their various shields and mech suits and Mjölnirs and whatnot and just relish in the fact that both films took in all the money. 

Or at least parent company Disney did, since the MCU owners also merged with Avatar parent company 20th Century Fox in 2019. Still, watch out for that Peter Parker kid, as the Marvel hero’s latest solo adventure, 2026’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day is coming up fast in third place, with a not-too-shabby $2.497 billion box office and counting. Of course, there are other movies out there too, if you’re into that sort of thing.